Gemara Clarity

Chullin 99b

חולין צ״ט ע״ב

Learn Chullin 99b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Cancelling forbidden items in mixtures: תרומה leaven, fish ציר, and the flavor of the גיד הנשה

Overview

The amud opens in the middle of a debate between אביי and רב דימי about a משנה in ערלה: how much plain dough is needed to cancel out תרומה leaven that fell into it. רב דימי reads the רישא as one hundred and one and the סיפא as one hundred. אביי then asks why strong leaven is not cancelled in one hundred and one. רב דימי is silent, and אביי suggests that שאור is different because its leavening power is so strong. רב דימי supports this with רבי יוסי ברבי חנינא's teaching that not all measures are equal: fish ציר needs close to two hundred. The גמרא explains that רבי יהודה lets ציר be cancelled at all because it is only 'sweat'. The גמרא then returns to the משנה of גיד הנשה. רב הונא explains how its flavor is measured, and the גמרא notes a תנא who holds that sinews give no flavor. Stories about רבי חנינא and רבי אמי follow, and the הלכה is set that sinews give no flavor. The amud ends with a new challenge: why isn't a cooked גיד הנשה cancelled by the majority?

Opening lines

לָא, בְּמֵאָה.

No, with one hundred.

וְהָא מִדְּרֵישָׁא בְּמֵאָה הָוֵי,

But since the first clause is with one hundred,

סֵיפָא בְּשִׁשִּׁים!

the last clause must be with sixty!

דְּקָתָנֵי רֵישָׁא:

As the first clause teaches:

The steps (18)

  1. Responseרב דימי: the clause means one hundred
  2. Challengeאביי objects: the first clause is already one hundred
  3. Proofאביי quotes both clauses of the משנה
  4. ChallengeCan both clauses mean one hundred?
  5. Resolutionרב דימי: the first clause is 101, the last is 100
  6. ChallengeWhy isn't strong leaven cancelled in one hundred and one?
  7. ResolutionMaybe leaven is different because it is so strong
  8. ProofNot all measures are equal: brine needs close to two hundred
  9. ProofThe source: the משנה about non-kosher fish brine
  10. ChallengeBut רבי יהודה holds that a mixture of the same kind is never cancelled
  11. ResolutionBrine is only sweat
  12. StatementHow the flavor of the sinew is measured
  13. StatementOur משנה disagrees with the view that sinews give no flavor
  14. StatementA man asks רבי חנינא and is permitted
  15. Statementרבי חנינא firmly says sinews give no flavor
  16. Statementרבי אמי sends questioners to a lenient sage
  17. ConclusionThe final ruling: sinews give no flavor
  18. ChallengeWhy isn't the cooked sinew cancelled by the majority?